Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of...Meat?

No, not quite meat, but this is the best recipe for faux meatballs that I have ever tried. It comes to us from Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes, and the original post can be found at http://sundaymorningbananapancakes.blogspot.com/2012/04/walnut-bella-meatball-subs.html. All photos have been taken from there.

"So that's five miso soups, four seaweed salads, three soy burger dinners, two tofu dog platters, and one pasta with meatless balls."


"Ew."


"It tastes the same."


"If you close your eyes."


Not only is the above quote an amazing line from one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite musicals (La Vie Boheme, from Rent. And yes, I'm a musical theatre nerd.), and a familiar sounding order when eating with a group of vegans, BUT it shares my sentiment when it comes to meatless meatballs.

Up until I became an adult, the only thing that I had ever eaten at a sandwich shop was a meatball marinara sub. There's nothing that gives me that "I could have done this at home" feeling more than buying a regular sandwich with cold cuts or chicken breast. And back when I was coming up, there was no such thing as a toasted sub, so meatball marinara was the closest thing I got to a hot sandwich. Needless to say, this is a comfort food that I have had to forgo in its traditional form.

I have tried quite a few meatless meatballs, and honestly have felt like they have come up short. There's just something about mashed up beans and other items rolled in panko crumbs that doesn't translate into deliciousness in my kitchen. UNTIL I found this recipe. Consider my world absolutely changed! The base of the "meatballs" are walnuts and baby bella mushrooms. Doesn't that just sound brilliant? And on top of that, this recipe is actually super easy to make.

I changed the ratio of ingredients in the actual balls, and I could not help but add a marinara sauce. The sandwich was just way too dry for me otherwise.

For those of you who aren't fond of balsamic vinegar, don't worry, it reduces to a glaze that leaves more of the flavor and very little of the vinegary-ness.

This recipe can easily become gluten free by using gluten free sub rolls or whatever type of bread you wish.

Shopping List by Department:


Produce

• 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms
• 4 sprigs of fresh parsley
• 1 orange bell pepper
• 1 1/4 c or 1 container of grape tomatoes
• 1 large shallot
• spring mix salad

Dry Foods (Canned/Boxed)

• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• marinara sauce
• 4 sub rolls (gluten free if needed)
• ground or whole flax*

Bulk Items (some things are cheaper when you can measure them out yourself. These are they.)

• 1 heaping cup of walnuts 
• 7 medjool dates

Spices

• all purpose savory seasoning (I used onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, a pinch of sage and a bit of cayenne in addition to my all purpose seasoning, which is Badia Complete.)

Recipe

For the walnut bella "meatballs"
1 heaping cup walnuts
8 oz baby bella mushrooms - cut in half
2 tbsp all purpose savory seasoning (more to taste)
4 sprigs fresh parsley
7 medjool dates- pitted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (about 1-2 sliced of bread)
1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax & 3tbsp warm water, mixed and set aside for 5 minutes)
*A note about flax. Whole flax seeds last longer than ground flax seeds. I recommend buying them whole, and throwing the amount you need in a food processor or blender to ground them. If you have leftover ground flax or bought them already ground, placing them  in the freezer can prolong their shelf life.

For the veggie filling
1 orange bell pepper sliced into strips
1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half
1 large shallot sliced
1 tsp olive oil
pinch of salt
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
spring mix salad

2 sub rolls toasted
marinara sauce
parsley for garnish


Assembly
1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Finely grind the slice of bread into crumbs in a food processor - transfer crumbs to a small bowl & set aside.
3. In the food processor, finely ground 1 cup walnuts, half of the mushrooms, seasoning & parsley until well mixed. The mixture should be a bit moist from the walnuts. Transfer mixture to a medium mixing bowl.
4. Add dates and remaining mushrooms to the processor until well ground. With a rubber spatula transfer date/mushroom mixture to the bowl with the walnut mixture.
5. Add bread crumbs, olive oil, salt and flax egg - mix well.
6. Use a heaping tablespoon at a time to form a ball with the mixture - place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Continue until all the mixture has been formed into balls. It was about 16 times for me.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown.
8. While the "meatballs" are baking - prep your veggies. In a medium saute pan over medium/high heat - add oil. Once oil is heated add veggies and saute. Caramelized bits are good.
9. Towards the last 2-3 minutes of cooking, add the balsamic to glaze the pan. Continue to cook until balsamic is reduced to 1/2 - you are looking to create a glaze of balsamic on the veggies. Remove from heat and set aside.
10. Heat up 1 1/2-2 cups of marinara sauce.
11. When you have about 2-3 minutes of cooking time left on the "meatballs" place 4 sub rolls cut side down on the upper rack of the oven.
12. Once the "meatballs" are done cooking, remove from the oven along with the sub rolls. Allow the "meatballs" to cool for about 3 minutes.
13. Assemble the subs by placing the veggie mixture into the roll, top with walnut bella "meatballs", add sauce, and a spring mix of lettuce.

Leftover "meatballs" can be stored in an airtight container for up to week and reheated as needed or frozen on a cookie sheet and stored in a freezer bag for later use.